CaRDI comment on housing affordability

In the United States, “housing affordability” is typically measured by the percent of household income spent on housing. If this figure exceeds 30 percent, a household is considered to be housing-cost burdened (those households spending more than 50% of their income on housing are considered severely housing cost burdened). While many households, especially in the higher income brackets, may not actually be “burdened” if their housing costs exceed 30% of their income – their higher costs instead reflecting their choice for larger, more luxurious homes – this issue is much more of a problem for households at middle- and lower-income levels where stagnant or declining incomes combined with rising housing costs have made housing even less affordable.